2011-2014. The original blog that got it all started. It represents reflections I had and sharing I did, during a time period in my life, freshly post autism diagnosis, worsening illness, though I wasn't yet clear on things. I was trying to process and going through a lot of hard learning. There's some good stuff in here, which helped others, and there's also some stuff that no longer reflects my situation and/or evolved insights. Please read with this in mind.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Entry 15: The Misconception That Autistic People Aren’t Creative

It's
a complete misconception, archaic and outdated, that autistics aren’t
creative and artsy. Oh please. It’s also not true that autistic
children do not play pretend and aren't creative or imaginative. My
son is classically autistic, and he always plays pretend. He makes up
his own stories, I'd have to say in his own peculiar little way, but
he does.

I
have AS and I'm an artist myself. I write and compose music, design
outfits, abstract draw and paint, write poetry etc. I love colors and
artistic patterns; anything creative. In fact, I need it in my
life or I’m rather miserable.

I
definitely am creative in a different way than an NT artist. I don't
know quite how to explain it. It's very sequential, logical and
precise within the creativity. It seems to need to make sense and
adhere to patterns… but it's very creative and imaginary
nonetheless.

Little
girls especially have been and are continuing to be misdiagnosed
and/or not diagnosed at all with autism. This is due to the fact that
rather than act out, they are more likely to retreat into their "own
little imaginary worlds" for comfort from their social
difficulties and sensory issues.

They
also tend to be better social imitators, and often have a "sixth
sense" of feelings and vibrations, which makes up for the lack
of ability to read facial expressions. That’s not to say that some
males aren't going under the radar for the same reason, to be fair.

Recently
there has been a grant given to Yale University, to study the nature
of autism in females, as it does seem to often differ a lot from most
males. It also presents differently and more subtly; to the point
where the diagnostic criteria fails many little girls. I myself was a
"failed little girl"

Back
to autism and creativity. My son is quite artistic, musical and
imaginative. Many males with ASDs are too and the dry stereotype is
nothing more than that.

For
example, think Sheldon and Amy Farrah Fowler from Big Bang Theory.
Well, I'll admit that I'm pretty Sheldon-ish at the core, underneath
my exterior appearance and more feminine, imitatively streetwise
mannerisms. However and back to the point, this stereotypical
"personality" predominantly presents in that way, in only
a fraction of us.

One
has to consider personality, gender and life experience/environment
to see how core autistic traits could manifest in varying
individuals. I feel there is much artistic and creative potential to
unlock in most autistic people. After all, we do often have a very
high level of fluid intelligence. This means that we can see how many
aspects of something, that may not be seemingly connected, can
interrelate with each other and produce a new hybrid/compounded
result. We can see things from various angles too.

A
great example of this is how a brown-eyed parent and a blue-eyed
parent can produce a child who is green eyed, due to the genetic mix
of eye colors. This can easily translate to creativity/the arts, as
well as logic…and maybe even both at the same time; which is always
a great combo.

Let's
start broadening our vision on what autism can look like in an
individual human being, compounded with their personality and gender.